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Spacecraft with 2 Russians, 1 American lands in Kazakhstan

By the CNN Wire Staff
An undocking glitch had delayed the departure of two Russians and an American from the international space station.
An undocking glitch had delayed the departure of two Russians and an American from the international space station.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • NEW: The trio -- two Russians and one American -- returned to Earth early Saturday
  • A spacecraft has undocked after jumper cables helped fix a glitch
  • NASA says the delay happened after hooks and latches on the docking port did not release

(CNN) -- A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two cosmonauts and an U.S. astronaut from the International Space Station landed successfully in Kazakhstan early Saturday morning, NASA said.

The trio spent 176 days in space. Their return was delayed by a day after an undocking glitch, NASA said.

They successfully undocked from the space station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft at 10:02 p.m. ET on Friday after engineers used jumper cables to resolve the problem, NASA said.

Cmdr. Alexander Skvortsov and flight engineers Mikhail Kornienko and Tracy Caldwell Dyson touched down in Kazakhstan at 11:23 a.m. (1:23 a.m. ET), NASA said.

Video: Soyuz capsule stuck to Space Station
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NASA said their scheduled departure was delayed Thursday after the opening hooks and latches on a docking port would not release.

To resolve the problem, flight engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin installed jumper cables to a failed sensor Friday, allowing the hooks to open.

According to NASA, a Soyuz space capsule took the first crew to the orbiting laboratory in November 2000. After the February 2003 Columbia accident, the Soyuz became the means of transportation for crew members going to or returning from the International Space Station.

CNN's Ninette Sosa contributed to this report.